Silas smith



S. SMITH.

(No Hodel.)

Mail Bag.

No. 242,068. Patentd May 24,188I.

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UNITED STATES 5 PATENT OFFICE.

SILAS SMITH, OF MIDDLEBURG, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JACOB ENGLE, OF SAME PLACE.

MAlL-BA G.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 242,068, dated May 24, 1881. Application filed July 13, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, SILAs SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middleburg, in the county of Schoharie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification- Figure 1 being a front view of the upper end of a mail-bag provided with myimprovement; Fig. 2, aview showing the construction of parts beneath the outer flap or thickness of leather, which is removed to show the said parts, the view showing the mail-hag as ready to open; Fig. 3, a view corresponding with the viewin Fig. 2, but showing the parts in their closed position Fig. 4, a cross-section in a plane indicated by the line a a, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a crosssection in aplane indicated by the lineyy, Fig. 1.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

The purpose of my invention is to produce a secure fastening for the mouths of mail-bags in a sliding leather fastening-strip slotted towhich shall not,require a threading-strap and staples, and yet shall not essentially increase the weight of the bag nor decrease its usual flexibility. V

The main feature of my invention consists receive headed fastening-pins, in combination with a slotted thickness of the bag' and a slotted guard-strip, between which it is held, all substantially as hereinafter specified.

One edge, A, of the mail-bag at the mouth is provided with a series of T-head pins, B B, extending at regular distances along the width of the bag. These pins take the place of the usual metallic staples or loops. The crossheads ha of these pins are all arranged vertically in reference to the bag when held erect,

. and have abrupt shoulders I) b, as seen in Fig.

4. The opposite ed ge, O, of the mail-bags month has two thicknesses, c d, of the leather or other material of which the bag is made, the guard or outer thickness, d, being formed by doubling or other equivalent flexible and comparatively soft material, but sufficiently strong and firm to fulfill its purpose. The thicknesscand guard d, embracing this fastening-strip, are respectively provided with slots or openings f g, of

proper size and in proper direction and positions to receive, respectively, all the T-headed pins B B of the other side, A, of the mail-bag mouth, the said heads entering these slots when the mouth of the bag is to be closed and being withdrawn therefrom to open the bag. The fastening-strip D also has aseries of slots, h h, similarly situated, for the T-heads of the pins to enter for fastening the bag; and in addition to the vertical part each slot has a horizontal offset, 2', extending from one side at right angles to the main part h. This offset is just wide enough to receive the thickness of the shank or body part of the T-headed pins B B. The two parts h i of each slot together form a T shapeturned horizontally. Thefastening-strip has a longitudinal movement, so that when. the T-heads are all inserted through their respective slots therein for fastening the bag and pass through and just beyond the fasteningstrip, as shown in Fig.2, then, on drawingthe said strip endwise to the position shown in Fig. 3, the bodies of the T-headed pins all enter the respective offsets i i, and since the T-hcads cannot be drawn through this part of the slots the mail-bag is thereby held securely closed at all these places. When the sliding strip isin this position a slot, 1, in the same, near one end thereof, is just in line with two other slots, m n, in the respective thicknesses c d of the bag, ready to receive a staple, E, attached to the opposite edge of the bag, which staple is then pushed up through and partly beyond them far enough to receive a lock that holds all the parts in their fixed fastened position. Then, to open the mail-bag, after the lock is again taken out the staple E is withdrawn and the fasteningstrip D is drawn back till the slots h h are under the T-heads, and then the bag is ready to be opened without obstruction. Thus the movements are quickly and easily performed, and the fastening is strong and secure. The ends 1) p of the sliding strip project a little beyond the sides of the bag or beyond the guard-strip d, to enable it to be seized by the hand for drawing it first one way and then the other. These ends are provided with any suitable stops, 8 s, to prevent the strip from beingdrawn too far in either direction.

The strip D, being flexible and light, does not interfere with the proper flexibility of the mail-bag, nor does it add materially to the Weight of the same; nor is there any danger therefrom should the bag strike any one in throwing or dropping the same as would be the case if a metallic fastening were used.

SILAS SMITH.

Witnesses:

R. F. N OXON, J. NEVILLE. 

